Team still negotiating with forwards Schneider, Handrick and Abstreiter

Frank Johne

Munich, Germany - The roster of the Munich Barons for the upcoming campaign is shaping up. According to a Sunday team release, offensive defender Jason Herter signed a one-year contract extension through 2002. The team also stressed its intention to re-sign forwards Andy Schneider, Jörg Handrick and Peter Abstreiter, but negotiations are still in progress.

Leading DEL Scorers

(as of Feb 19, 2005)

Team

G

A

Pts

Lebeau

FRA

27

55

82

York

ISL

15

38

53

Norris

FRA

22

27

49

Stastny

NUR

21

25

46

Hecht

MAN

13

32

45

With his extension, the 30-year-old Herter becomes the fifteenth player from last year´s squad to stay with the Barons. The defense is complete already with six returning veterans and one new arrival, German Patrick Koeppchen, who will technically be considered a rookie after only four appearances last year.

It will be interesting to see if head coach Sean Simpson decides to mix up the defensive pairings after Chris Luongo´s departure to Nuremberg. For the past two seasons, Herter was mostly teamed up with Kent Fearns while Shane Peacock played with Hans Lodin. NHL prospect and last year´s DEL Rookie of the Year Christoph Schubert is expected to step up and replace Luongo alongside fellow-German Mike Smazal.

Ontario-native Jason Herter will enter his fourth straight DEL season this fall, his third with the Barons. He is known for his offensive skills, especially as a dangerous blueliner on special teams. He was the highest-scoring defenseman on the team last year with 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists) and tallied 20 points (6 goals, 14 assists) in 1999-2000.

Although he was drafted in the first-round by the NHL´s Vancouver Canucks in 1989 (8th overall), Herter spent most of his pre-DEL career in the IHL and made his only NHL appearance with the New York Islanders in 1995-96.